Contents:
Q&A Format
What is Thalia?
Thalia is a web application for storing, organizing, and sharing images. It's available to departments and projects in the MIT community.
What can I do in Thalia?
* upload photos
* organize photos into libraries, albums and slideshows
* download slideshows for offline playback
* share them with an MIT user, the MIT community, or the world
* grant fine-grained permissions: view, modify, or download
* tag images with metadata for easier searching and more detailed records
* search within your Thalia site
There sure are a lot of image tools out there. How can I choose the right one? Where does Thalia fit?
The Academic Computing Coordination group (ACCORD) is dedicated to helping the MIT community use the right technology for their needs. For assistance, see http://web.mit.edu/accord/ . They maintain a list of tools at http://web.mit.edu/teachtech/ . In particular, see image tool survey at http://web.mit.edu/teachtech/image.html .
Can I use Thalia for my class?
No - use Stellar for teaching and learning. stellar.mit.edu
Can I use Thalia for archiving?
No - Thalia is focused on making images accessible on the web right now. We'll make every effort to keep the service up, but we don't promise your images will be here in perpetuity for future scholars. MIT Libraries has the expertise to archive your materials, and they offer it through DSPACE. Add DSpace URL.
Can I have my own Thalia site?
DLCs and projects may request their own Thalia site, which we call a domain. A domain has its own URL, such as demo.thalia.mit.edu . Within a domain, you can grant view and editing permissions, and preconfigure lists of metadata for users to assign to images.
Thalia is only available to groups, and is not intended for individuals.
Can I try Thalia before becoming a customer?
Yes, visit https://demo.thalia.mit.edu
. As a guest, you can view and search for images. To upload images or create new libraries and slideshows, a Thalia administrator must grant you an account. To request a demo account, please send a request to [Jeanne, please add RT queue link and instructions here - we need to know their Kerberos name]
Do I have to install anything?
Thalia is a web service, maintained by IS&T. The server software runs on a secure, backed-up host.
To access Thalia, you need a supported web browser with the Flash plug-in. Please see the system requirements documentation for specifics.
How much storage space do I get?
Each domain is allocated 10GB to start. More for a fee, if available. Full details of the service are at [ Link to final terms of service page ]
Does Thalia include image editing tools like Photoshop?
No, use Photoshop or iPhoto.
My department has an approval process before images are shared. Does Thalia include workflow tools that could manage this process?
No.
How can I become a customer?
[Jeanne - please add the process ]
We have a lot of images. Are there tools to help us migrate to Thalia?
Thalia allows you to upload in bulk with a zip file. Metadata for each file, like titles or contributors, can be imported with a text file. Details at
Are there tools to export from Thalia?
You can download an entire library, including its associated metadata. You may also save a slideshow for playing offline.
Where can I learn more about Thalia's features?
You can get a feature overview from the online help files. These include video tutorials. We will offer hands-on training sessions in 2009.
Who can I share with? Can I share editing privileges?
You can mark anything as public, or share it with particular Thalia users. ( A Thalia user is someone with an MIT Kerberos ID who the domain administrator identified in the administrative Manage Users dialog.) You can allow particular Thalia users to change something you created, or add or remove items from libraries and albums.
Some customers need to restrict materials to MIT community use. It's possible to designate an entire domain as MIT-only, though not individual items. These domains will require MIT Touchstone authentication before allowing users in.